1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to wireless data protection and more specifically to protecting cryptographic keys relating to a backup between devices.
2. Introduction
Mobile communication devices, such as phones, PDAs, laptops, and so forth, are a critical aspect of the day-to-day-operations for many users. Mobile devices enable communication in the form of email, text messaging, live chat, voice and video. These devices often store valuable information, such as personal data and confidential corporate data. The amount of information that such devices can store is increasing, as is the importance of the information stored. When a mobile device is lost or destroyed, all of the information stored within the device is also lost.
Some computing systems employ backup mechanisms such that in the event of loss or destruction of the computing system, at least some data is recoverable. The backup mechanism usually involves copying all or part of a file to a backup system for storage. Optionally, backup systems store incremental backups for a file previously backed up such that only data that has changed is sent to the backup system.
Mobile device backup mechanisms exist that regularly and automatically backup data stored on a mobile device. These mechanisms can backup data to other devices or computing systems such as phones, laptop computers, desktop computers and servers and are sufficient when data on a mobile device is accessible. However, when the data is inaccessible, such as when a mobile device is locked, the backup mechanism cannot backup the data because it does not have access to the user passcode to unlock the device. One method to overcome this weakness is for a backup mechanism to only perform backups when the device is unlocked. This method provides a means for backup, but cannot backup more recent data stored on the device since the last unlock event. Another solution is for a user to unlock a mobile device to perform a backup. However this method requires input from the user.